Palomani Tranca, Cordillera Apolobamba. In July British climbers Jim Curran, Andy Maskrey and I went to the rarely visited Cordillera Apolobamba on the Peruvian-Bolivian border, 80 miles northeast of Lake Titicaca. We explored the Peruvian flanks of the border peaks and established a base at 15,000 feet, midway along the northern bank of Lake Suches. Our main objective was to climb Palomani Tranca (5633 meters, 18,480 feet), which appeared to be the last major unclimbed peak in the range. We established Advance Base at the foot of the west ridge, seven miles beyond Base Camp. The first route attempted was the north ridge which is a steep mixed route starting at the col between Palomani Grande and Palomani Tranca. We made an unsuccessful attempt to reach the col up a heavily crevassed glacier, most crevasses being concealed by powder snow. On July 18 and 19, we three made the second and successful attempt up the north ridge, two miles long and undulating over successive rock-snow-and-ice barriers. The ridge culminated in three independent pinnacles, two of rock and one of ice. The furthest (eastern) pinnacle was the rocky summit.

Geoffrey Tier, Alpine Club